Shoe-lace fastening



(No Modell) l i F. B. COMINS.

. SHOE LAOE'FASTBNING.

ANo. 340,557. Patented Apr.V 27, 18,86.

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IW: 5 ml lhli Il 4 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

SHOELACE ASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,557, dated April 27, 1886.

Application filed March 1, 1886.

.To @ZZ whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, FRANK B. Counts, of

New Bedford, in the county of Bristol and' State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe -Lace Fastenings, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relatesto a device for fastening the ends of lacing-cords for boots and shoes, and it consists in the use of a stud or hook provided with prongs or other suitable means of securing it to the boot or shoe, and with a lip pendent from its outer collar or head at the side opposite the neck of said hook, in combination with a crescent-shaped or two-armed pawl or dog-pivotcd between the inner and outer collars or heads of said stud or hook, and arranged to grip thelacingcord between its point and the inner surface of said lip, as will be more fully described.

It further consists in a hook or stud having suitable prongs or other means of securing the same to the boot or shoe, and provided with a lip pendent from 'the side of its outer collar or head opposite to its neck, in combination with a crescent-shaped pawl or dog pivot-ed between the outer and inner collars or heads of said stud, and a stop to limit the backward movement of said pawl or dog.

Figure l of the drawings represents a portion of a lace boot with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my improved lacing-cord fastening device drawn to au enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan ofthe outer head and the crescent-shaped pawl, the neck being cutin seetionon line on Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan of same, and showing the lacingcord fastened by the pawl, the cutting-plane being on line 1/ y on Fig. 2; and Fig. (i is a plan of the sheet-metal blank from which the hook is formed.

In the drawings, A A represent portions of a lace-boot front, with lacing-studs c a., ofwellknown construction, applied thereto in posi tions adapted to the lacing of the boot with the single lacing cord b,- and B is my cord. fastening hook secured to the booth-ont near its top, all as shown in Fig. l.

My improved cord-fasteninghook is formed Serial No. 193,641. (No inodeh) from the blank shown in Fig. 6 by bending the prongs c c c downward, and the lip d and stoplug e upward, and then bending the neck f untilthe outer head, g, is directly over and parallel with the inner head or base-collar, h, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thehead gand basecollar 71 each has formed therein a hole, z', to receive the pivot-pin j, which is riveted therein, and has mounted thereon between said outer head and base collar the crescentshaped or two-ar1ned pawl or dog k, one end of which acts as a toggle-like brace, to grip the lacingcord between it and the inner face of the pendent lip d, and prevent the drawing out of the cord by virtue of the :fact that the greater the strain upon the cord the harder the pawl will grip the same. I

The blank from which the hook B is formed may be cut from sheet metal of a thickness equal to the desired thickness of the outer head at its center, and said blank may be subjected to pressure in suitably shaped dies, to reduce the thickness of the inner head or base, the fastening-prongs, thcpendent lip, and the edges of the outer head and give to the outer side of said outer head a convex surface, as shown; or the blank may be cnt from met-al of the same thickness that the base-collar is to have when finished, and the outer head may have a flat outer surface, as may be desired, without affecting the principles of my inveir tion.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The normal position ol the crescentshaped pawl or dog l; when the boot or shoe is upon the foot is with its upper end in contact, or nearly so, with the inner face of the pendent lip d, as shown in Fig. 4. If, now, the boot or shoe has been laced and it is desired to secure the end oi' the lacing cord, it is drawn from the upper lacingstnd, n, obliqucl y across the front of the boot andin near proximity thereto, till said cord bears against the lower arm oi' the mescent-shaped pawl or dog Ir, when the cord is drawn upward and outward, which causes said pawl to bc moved slightly about vits pivot, so as to move its upper end away from the pendent .lip d, andpermit the cord to be drawn into the space between the lip d and the end of the upper arm of said pawl, where it is firmly held against any possible IOO attempt to withdraw it, occasioned by the strain upon the lacing-cord due to the ordinary use of the boot or shove, as any increase of the strain upon the lacingcord tends to cause the upper arm of the pawl to grip the cord with greater force, as will be seen at a glance upon inspection of Fi. 5 of the drawings.

W'hat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ot' the United States, is

1. A. lacing-cordfastening device having the following elements, viz: a hook or stud having a base -collar, a neck, an outer head provided with a pendent lip and prongs or other suitable means of securing it to the boot or shoe, and a two-armed pawl or dog pivoted between the base-collar and outer head of said hook, and arranged to grip the lacing cord l FRANK B. COMINS.

Vitllesses:

N. C. LOMBARD, WALTER E. LOMBARD. 

